See what you're doing now and what comes next — nothing more
today's Now/Next card shows the current time block and the upcoming one at a glance. Less overhead than a full calendar view, more context than a plain task list.
The problem with full calendar views during active work
Opening a full calendar view to check what's next creates cognitive overhead: you see the entire day, all the meetings, all the blocks, all the gaps, and your brain does a full processing pass whether you wanted it to or not. That processing pass costs attention and can introduce anxiety (three more calls after this one) or distraction (oh, I should prepare for the 4pm review). The Now/Next view in today avoids this by showing exactly two things: what you're supposed to be working on now, and what comes after. Nothing else. That minimal context is enough to answer 'what do I do when this ends?' without the full calendar re-read.
How the Now/Next card drives transitions
Work transitions — moving from one task to another — are when most attention leakage happens. You finish a session, the block ends, and instead of moving directly to the next block, you check email, ping a colleague, or wander into shallow tasks. The Now/Next card makes the transition path explicit: when the current block ends, this is what starts. Having that information visible before the transition reduces the pause that becomes a derailment. It's a small structural intervention, but attention research consistently shows that transitions are the highest-risk moment for focus derailment.
Now/Next in the context of meeting-heavy days
On days with many external events, Now/Next becomes a different kind of useful: it answers 'am I in the right meeting and do I have time after it for X?' without opening the full calendar. If the current block is a client call and the next is a 45-minute writing window, you know to end the call on time rather than letting it run over into your protected focus window. The meeting tag feature integrates here too: if the current meeting is tagged 'draining,' you can note that you might need a 5-minute recovery before the next focus session rather than jumping straight in.
The design philosophy behind minimal status views
The Now/Next card is an expression of a broader principle in today's design: show what's relevant right now, nothing more. Full calendar views, comprehensive dashboards, and detailed analytics all serve different moments (planning, reviewing) but are actively harmful during execution because they import future concerns into the present. A pilot doesn't watch the full flight plan while executing a landing — they focus on the instruments relevant to the current phase. The Now/Next card is today's equivalent: the minimal viable context for your current phase of work.
Frequently asked questions
Related
- FeatureTime Blocking App — todaytoday is a calm time blocking app for knowledge workers. Sketch your day in blocks, log focus sessions, and close the loop each evening.
- FeatureDaily Planner App — todaytoday is a daily planner app for knowledge workers. Plan time blocks, track focus, keep commitments, and reflect — in one quiet place.
- FeatureFocus Session Tracker — todaytoday's focus session tracker logs what you work on, how long you focus, and whether it connects to your daily outcome. Honest data, no judgment.
- FeatureCalendar Sync — todaytoday syncs Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook events into your daily planning view. Plan your self-directed time around your actual meeting schedule.